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Ark Volume 04
Ark Volume 04
Act 1 : The Giran’s Institute of Magic
BOOM, FLAAASH!
A ray of light struck the magic tower. Sparks came off the equipment attached to the
transmitter as light particles gathered. The light particles that moved along the
complicated tangle of glass tubes soon transformed into the shape of a person atop a
magic circle.
It was a normal-looking youth, which was actually rare in the virtual reality game
where 90% of players changed their appearances. He really couldn’t be called
handsome, and there was a surprising grain of truth in calling him ugly; this
incomparably vague character’s name was Ark.
“Pant, pant, arrived at last… bleh, BLEECH!”
Ark retched with a green face.
“I thought I was gonna go mad. I’ve never even been carsick, this is really…”
From Jackson to Giran, letter movement only took 3 minutes. That was the time it
took for cup noodles to become done at the perfect state for eating. But that mere 3
minutes dealt Ark mental damage that he didn’t want to experience a second time.
Still, it was quite fresh and fun at first. When he turned into particles of light, it felt
just like he was leaving his body. The sense of weightlessly becoming one with the
air! Since he was cutting through the sky in such a state, it was like he had become
wind. Everyone has probably imagined it once; becoming a wisp of wind and
speeding over mountains, valleys, and plains. That imagination had become reality.
“Woaaaah, this is awesome!”
That sense of liberation! That freedom!
A cheer burst out of him as he looked at the scenery that was speeding past. But it
didn’t even take 10 seconds for his cheer to turn into a scream.
The sudden jumps, dives, and turns that unfurled!
Would riding a rollercoaster without the seat belt feel like this? No, it felt like being
in a cocktail cup being swished around by a bartender. He jolted from side to side,
and the sky and ground flipped countless times…
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Ark Volume 04
It still seemed like the floor was shaking underneath him, so he couldn’t even stand
up straight.
‘Dammit, what the hell is this frickin’ over the top reality!’
“Are you Ark?”
He heard a rough voice from behind him. Turning around with sunken eyes, he saw
an old Magician with a beard that fell to his chest approaching him.
“Do you know me?”
“I just received word from the Jackson Magic Institute. But I knew of your name
before that, from the crewmen of the Silver Arrow who arrived a few days ahead of
you.”
“Ah, did they arrive well?”
“Of course. They couldn’t come meet you because they’re out on other business, but
they told me to send you their greetings.” The old Magician laughed awkwardly as
he shrugged his shoulders. “But it looks like you’re not in any shape to ask after
their
health. Are you okay?”
“Honestly, I can’t really say that I’m alright.”
“Well, letter movement is still in the testing stage, so it couldn’t have been a
comfortable journey.”
“It’s not just at the level of not being comfortable though?”
“Apparently the weather was particularly bad today so letter movement was also
several times more unstable than normal. Even if we are the Magic Institute, we can’t
do anything about the weather. So to speak, you had bad luck.”
“Ah, is that so? Thanks so much for your kind explanation. Why didn’t you tell me
that a few days earlier?”
Ark glared at the old Magician who was smiling as he explained. But even if his
insides were heaving, Ark wasn’t one to talk carelessly to a NPC.
The Magic Institute reward that he’d been waiting and waiting for was right in front
of him. There was no reason to complain and lower the Magic Institute NPC’s mood.
“But ah, the promised…”
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Ark Volume 04
Just when Ark was about to gingerly bring up the topic at hand, the old magician
slapped his knee as if he had just remembered.
.
“Ah, just look at my state of mind. Introductions are late. My name is Bargenhart
Shannen. I’m the president of the Giran Magic Institute.”
‘The Giran Magic Institute president?’
Ark swallowed what he was about to say and stared in surprise at the old magician,
Shannen.
There were about 20 Magic Institute branches set up throughout the large cities of
Schudenberg Kingdom. The Giran Magic Institute was the place that centralized all
those branches. Therefore, it meant the Giran Magic Institute president was the NPC
who had the highest status amongst the Magicians of Schudenberg Kingdom. You’d
have to be a guild master affiliated with the Magic Institute to meet this top NPC.
“If it’s fine with you, can you spare some time to drink a cup of tea?”
“Of course.”
Ark hastily drew out his business smile as he nodded.
Truth be told, he wasn’t in the mood to leisurely share idle prattle. Leaving the
nausea from the aftereffects of the letter movement aside, Ark was only interested in
the Magic Institute’s reward right now. But in both reality and the game, personal
connections were the most important aspect. What’s more, it was hard for a normal
player to even glimpse this high ranking NPC’s face, and he had amiably
approached Ark first. There was no reason to refuse.
You had to make an impression on people in lofty positions first. Also, in light of his
experience so far, there was a 90% chance that a situation like this was connected to a
quest.
“I was just wanting a steamy cup of tea because my stomach isn’t feeling so well.”
“That’s a relief.”
Shannen pointed to one side and a door on the opposite side automatically opened.
A table with refreshments was prepared in an tidy room that emitted the
atmosphere of a study.
“The heroism I heard of from the former bosun of the Silver Arrow, Jabel, made a
very deep impression.” said Shannen slowly as he raised his teacup. “Not only did
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Ark Volume 04
you remember in such a crazy situation and rescue the crewmen, but you also
nursed the refugees out of your own accord even though no one forced you to, yes?
Everyone knows that they were the right things to do and that they should do them,
but it’s not easy to actually take action. I was truly touched.”
“I’m flattered.”
“No, no. That was something anyone would praise. Is that all? The ingeniousness
and boldness you displayed when succeeding an impossible operation by using the
Spear of Thor was incredible enough to make me immodestly burst into a cheer.
Well, though the Spear of Thor which cost thousands of Gold to make was broken
beyond repair thanks to that.”
“That… I’m sorry.”
Ark watched Shannen with a guilty expression. ‘Surely he’s not asking me to pay for
it?’
Thankfully Shannen wasn’t thinking about it so seriously and burst into jolly
laughter. “Hahaha, I didn’t bring it up to blame you. An item has to be used where
it’s needed to get your money’s worth. There’s no point if you spend ten thousand
Gold to make it but you don’t spend it where necessary. In any case, your deeds
were great enough that it’s not out of place to call you a hero. However, that is not
the reason I took an interest in you. It was actually what you did after that.”
“Huh? After that?”
“You took 1st place in contribution in this operation, right?”
“How did you know that?” Ark asked back in a slightly surprised voice.
Since he had the Magic Institute’s Badge on him, of course the Magic Institute would
be able to check how much contribution he had accumulated. Only then would they
be able to prepare a reward suitable for the contribution points. But Ark hadn’t
fathomed that Shannen would be aware of the ranking when even the Lord of
Jackson hadn’t known.
With a faint smile, Shannen lowered his voice. “The 3 Great Guilds are a larger and
more massive organization than you know. You might have thought you didn’t
reveal yourself, but the Magic Institute, the Warrior Guild, and the Merchant Guild
have memorized the name of Ark. Although, I can’t say if that is a good or bad thing
for you.”
The NPCs of New World were really not to be underestimated.
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Ark Volume 04
Ark hadn’t registered his contribution ranking in the Hall of Fame. Of course, he had
been certain that the only ones who knew that would be himself and Global Exos.
However, it seemed that it wasn’t such a simple issue.
Besides the historical background, New World was no different from reality. Unlike
existing games, the NPCs here didn’t just move and think based on the information
they were given. Like people in reality, they were existences with perfect AIs that
thought and gathered necessary information on their own initiative. Like players,
the experiences and thoughts of these NPCs produced variables separate from the
system.
‘To think such a thing would be possible…’
Actually, Ha Myung-woo had already explained something like this in the reception
room before. But hearing the explanation and experiencing it yourself was a
completely different feeling.
‘Well, I didn’t register in the Hall of Fame because I didn’t want to attract the
attention of the players…’
It wasn’t much of a problem if an NPC knew. No, this could be a good thing, since
there would be more NPCs like Shannen who approached him while praising Ark’s
contribution.
“That’s why I definitely wanted to meet you. Just why did you hide the fact that you
took 1st place? And why did you suddenly hide yourself, not even showing up
while the foreigners who rose to the top 10, including Sir Alan, were all being
praised? Can you tell me why?”
“There wasn’t a great reason for it. There wasn’t really a reason to hide, but I didn’t
want to put myself out there and show off. Shall I say that I didn’t have the
confidence to deal with the attention I would receive from it? I just did my best with
what I was given, and I was more than satisfied enough with the fact that I helped.”
“It’s just as I imagined. Admirable! I don’t know about others, but I rate that attitude
highly. It is never easy for a hot-blooded young man to control his ambition.”
Shannen nodded with a satisfied expression. Then he continued in a low voice, “In
fact, I’ve been waiting for a person like you.”
“What?”
“A warrior with the strength and courage to win in any situation, no matter how
difficult, and also has the prudence to keep a secret. I thought that such a person
would be able to listen to my concern. How about it? Are you such a person?”
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